Led by an Uzumaki jonin, Shigure wound his way past building after building, taking so many turns that he soon felt dizzy.
“Ahem… Young man, where exactly is your council chamber?
How are we still not there?” The jonin’s mouth twitched when Shigure addressed him as though he were a child.
“Our compound is protected by numerous sealing arrays.
Without an Uzumaki guiding them, outsiders can easily become lost.” As he finished speaking, the jonin formed an unusual hand seal.
The air before them rippled.
A large building suddenly appeared where there had seemingly been nothing moments earlier.
Shigure stared at it, his eyes shining with interest.
Sealing techniques really are remarkable!
In his previous life, Shigure and other Naruto fans had often speculated about the principles behind sealing techniques.
Sage Mode absorbed natural energy, while sealing techniques used chakra and specialised formulas to impose restrictions on a target—binding chakra, containing objects or living beings, and even limiting certain abilities.
Shigure had always thought of those formulas as a way of imposing temporary rules upon the world.
It was only a theory, but the extraordinary versatility of sealing techniques made it seem far more profound than ordinary ninjutsu.
At its highest level, sealing techniques had even been used to imprison Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the mother of chakra.
That alone demonstrated the terrifying potential of sealing techniques.
Shigure began wondering whether he should study the Uzumaki Clan’s sealing arts in the future.
Before he realised it, he had already arrived at the council chamber.
Creak.
The moment he stepped inside, everyone turned to look at him.
The assembled Uzumaki leaders wore all manner of expressions, giving Shigure the strange satisfaction of a hero making his grand entrance.
“Ahem.
Sorry to keep everyone waiting.
Your sealing arrays made the route rather complicated…” Shigure waved benevolently at them like a dignitary acknowledging an enthusiastic crowd.
“Well, I’m here now.
We may begin.” He found an empty chair and sat down, only then noticing that something seemed wrong with the atmosphere.
The faces of the Uzumaki leaders alternated between pale and red, as though they had been holding back their grievances for a very long time.
A few even stared at him with such intensity that it almost resembled admiration, their cheeks puffed with restrained anger.
“You’re all far too courteous.
Really, there’s no need to welcome me so warmly.” The moment Shigure said that, their faces turned even redder.
One of the Uzumaki elders was on the verge of erupting when Clan Leader Uzumaki Takamasa cleared his throat and brought the meeting to order.
“Now that Elder Shigure has arrived, let us begin.” Takamasa fixed Senju Shigure with a long, searching stare.
The man was truly unfathomable.
He clearly remembered the report Nagakaze had delivered when the delegation arrived a month earlier.
At that time, Shigure had only just reached the chunin level.
Yet the chakra he displayed now unquestionably belonged to a jonin.
Takamasa immediately concluded that Shigure’s chakra control must have reached an extraordinary level.
No one could advance from a newly promoted chunin to a jonin within a single month.
That left only one possibility.
Shigure’s true strength must already be nearly Kage-level, or perhaps even higher.
The jonin-level chakra he displayed now was merely another layer of concealment.
Takamasa was not the only one astonished.
Uzumaki Nagakaze, seated nearby, felt as though the world had gone mad.
How is this possible?
Elder Shigure became a jonin in only one month?
Nagakaze stared blankly at the relaxed Shigure.
When Shigure noticed his gaze and nodded pleasantly at him, Nagakaze hurriedly looked away.
The meeting soon moved on to the approaching Hozuki and Kaguya forces.
As one proposal followed another, the Uzumaki leadership gradually split into two factions.
One side advocated intercepting the enemy at sea, while the other wanted to fortify the shoreline and wait for them to land.
“We cannot simply sit back and defend!” one of the Uzumaki elders declared, his face flushed from arguing.
“Everyone knows the Kaguya are nearly unstoppable in close combat.
We should intercept them at sea!” “I disagree!” Uzumaki Hironari slammed his palm against the table and confronted the elder arguing for an attack at sea without hesitation.
“The enemy uses trained hawks to scout ahead.
We cannot possibly conceal our movements from them.
If we take the initiative and attack, we will only be marching to our deaths!” “But defending the shoreline will result in even greater casualties!
Haven’t we tried that before?
What happened every single time?” “And you think attacking them first will guarantee victory?
Have you forgotten about their scouting hawks?
The moment we make a move, the enemy will know exactly what we are doing!” “Then what do you suggest?
Are you saying there’s nothing we can do?” At this rate, the clan is bound to lose many more shinobi, Shigure thought.
As the Uzumaki leaders argued more loudly with every passing moment, Shigure leaned back in his chair and struggled to keep his eyes open.
The council chamber was noisier than a crowded market.
Their voices soon became meaningless buzzing in his ears.
Before long, a glistening trail of drool appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He had fallen asleep.
Takamasa frowned at the assembled elders, who had divided themselves into two opposing factions, and slammed his palm against the table.
“Enough!
By the time you finish arguing, the enemy will already have reached our shore!” After speaking, his gaze instinctively shifted towards Shigure.
What he saw left him speechless.
The elder sent by the Senju Clan had fallen asleep in his chair.
Even worse, Shigure smacked his lips, then casually licked the drool from the corner of his mouth without waking.
The man was unbelievably carefree.
If Nagakaze had not praised Shigure’s command abilities as though they were the stuff of legend, Takamasa might have walked over and slapped him awake himself.
“Nagakaze, wake him up.” Takamasa turned his head away.
He genuinely could not bear to look at Shigure any longer.
The Uzumaki Clan was facing a grave crisis, yet the man had fallen asleep in the middle of their war council.
Nagakaze’s expression was equally strained.
However, when he remembered the extraordinary tactics Shigure had demonstrated at Sunset Valley, his expectations returned.
He rose from his seat and shook the sleeping elder awake.
“Uh… Is the meeting over?” Shigure lifted his head in a daze.
When he saw Nagakaze standing beside him, he immediately sprang to his feet.
“In that case, I’ll be taking my leave.” He turned towards the door.
At that moment, he once again found himself surrounded by familiar stares.
Are these people really so respectful of their elders that they intend to let the oldest person leave first?
Shigure sighed inwardly.
Their consideration is truly humbling.
“Ahem.
I believe you’ve misunderstood, Elder Shigure,” Nagakaze hurriedly explained.
“We woke you because we wanted to hear your thoughts.” He feared that if this oblivious elder continued speaking, the entire council chamber might erupt.
“What?
My thoughts?” Shigure dropped back into his chair and looked at him blankly.
“My thoughts on what?” That response finally caused the Uzumaki leaders to explode.
“So the Senju Clan intends to stand aside and watch us fight alone?
To think we considered you our allies!” “Exactly!
You sent only fifty jonin.
Do you think we’re beggars who should be grateful for scraps?” “What insight could he possibly offer?
He fell asleep the moment he arrived!” “This is an internal matter of the Uzumaki Clan.
Why should an outsider interfere?” Accusations came at Shigure from every direction.
As he watched their faces redden while they shouted at him for reasons he barely understood, his temper immediately flared.
He shot to his feet, pointed at them one after another, and launched his counterattack.
“You!
Yes, you!
Stop looking around—I’m talking to you!” Shigure jabbed a finger towards the Uzumaki elder who had spoken first.
“You say you regret forming an alliance with the Senju?
Wonderful!
Send someone to bring Mito back right now.
Let’s see whether the Senju Clan tries to stop you!” He immediately pointed towards another man.
“And you!
If you think we brought too few shinobi, I’ll take every one of them home today.
You can deal with this mess yourselves!” His attention shifted again.
“What are you glaring at?
You say I fell asleep the moment I arrived?” Shigure sneered.
“A few Hozuki and bone-wielding Kaguya have thrown your entire clan into chaos, yet I’m not even allowed to take a nap?” He swept his finger across the room.
“Did all of you leave your brains at home?
You can’t solve such a simple problem, and somehow that’s my damn fault?” Shigure continued berating them without pause until he finally had to stop and catch his breath.
His gaze then landed on the shinobi who had called the Senju outsiders.
“You say the Senju Clan has no right to interfere in your affairs?
Fine.
I’ll leave right now!” He shoved his chair aside and strode towards the door.
“Please wait, Elder Shigure!” Clan Leader Takamasa abruptly rose to his feet.
After sweeping a fierce gaze across the Uzumaki leaders, he called for Shigure to remain.
As the leader of the Uzumaki Clan, Takamasa naturally considered matters more carefully than most.
Shigure’s initial response had angered him as well.
However, the words that followed had conveyed an unmistakable message.
That was the real reason Takamasa had stopped him.
Shigure had mocked them for being unable to solve such a simple problem.
In other words, Senju Shigure might already possess a way to deal with the approaching Hozuki and Kaguya forces.
Add to library.
Send some Power Stones.